Release
by Minmei
Summary: [Suikoden 3] The demon bound... (rated T for some gore)


_Tenyu Star: Yuber  
There's a rumor he's been seen amongst the deformed creatures that sprung forth from the crumbled ruins._  
(Source: Harmonia Online) 

--- 

The unholy beast... 

Or, perhaps, a slave to the perpetual cycle of conflict... 

In all his years, he had been bound by his desire to put it in motion, a catalyst for the echoing screams and showering blood. And how he desired to join in this dance of insanity, taking advantage of a frenzied, confused lot and contributing greatly to the disorder. 

This feeling shook him to the core, until his very bones ached and his head throbbed with beautiful thoughts of structures in ruins and corpses scattered around him, accompanied by the pungent aroma of decay. He needed it. To satisfy these thoughts and desires. They would not go away until he made this all happen. 

Until he fully embraced the chaos. 

The demon emerged from the corner wall of some broken, ancient structure, trembling and laughing to himself. He loved this place. How he loved this place. There were so many here. So many like him, or so he believed. Creatures by the hundreds without a master, ready to kill, to bathe the world in chaos. 

But though they had the same agenda, he felt they could not truly understand him. Such creatures could fight only so many times until one released them from their mortal chains. Here he existed, a life of the chosen few, fated to walk this path for eternity, or until the higher powers decided otherwise. 

_Releassssse meeeee..._

The attire he donned from the last conflict was all but barely recognizable now; living in this place had taken its toll. His coat, hat, and footwear were missing, and his trousers were torn and dusty, the fabric jagged below the knees. At his sides he held two long, slender blades, stained and dulled from constant combat--if effortlessly slicing a monster's existence in twain qualified as combat. So this is what he had been reduced to... 

He continued laughing to himself, not really knowing why. Perhaps it was just a result of the way things had turned out, but he wasn't sure if this reaction was due to satisfaction or simply insanity. Perhaps it was both? He had always kept his desires under control in times of conflict, always answering to his master or comrade, never straying without permission...unless, of course, it meant putting his own life in danger. 

So what had happened in that time following that last battle? Disappearing from the victors, he stayed in this place, and waited...until it crumbled. Dictation of the True Rune, feeding the entropy, crushing, punishing. Yuber wandered the disaster for days before finally coming upon them. The scratched, bloodied limbs of humans sticking out of the rubble, clad in remnants of familiar clothing. This was the site of the demise of those he had traveled with. 

He was not familiar with the emotion of sadness, but he did feel a sense of emptiness from this very sight. 

_For I, too, exist without a master..._

He could smell it. Their blood. He could smell the blood of many. Normally, it would invigorate him, arouse him, even command him to shed more blood. But he felt different this time...still so very empty. 

Something was missing, but he could not pinpoint what it was. The absence of something...or someone. 

_Someone...?_

Yes, there had been a fourth in their group, a young man with ambition as equally selfish as his comrades'. Yuber could not find his remains or smell his blood, so there was the good possibility he had escaped before the ruins crumbled... 

This made the demon more restless, and filled him with a sense of longing. It was missing. He was missing. The lost piece of the puzzle, perhaps... 

Yuber remembered more and more about this young man, the mortal who had initially summoned him. The one who struck a deal with him--chaos for participation. 

_And chaos I did see..._

Yet it seemed incomplete...the deal, most certainly. So what would remedy that? 

Yuber's strongest feelings continued gnawing at him from the inside out. He had to find a way to release the urges from within. And so, he took off in pursuit of the last person to summon him... 

There was no need for teleportation. It would only cheapen the hunt. The demon traveled for many days, running, walking, leaping...eventually picking up on a familiar scent. This scent eventually led him to the holy land... 

_Ohhhhh..._

The scent grew stronger as he drew near. It was nightfall, on that seventeenth day. The demon did not tire like an ordinary human, rarely stopping for rest and never eating. He killed anything in his path with a casualness, hardly giving acknowledgement, in fact, to any living being unfortunate enough to have encountered him. 

The scent of the sought after was strongest outside of this building. Yes, he was almost completely certain the young man was inside. 

And sure enough, a red-haired youth emerged. 

He seemed preoccupied, or eager to get home. He must have been working late on something. The demon didn't care what; the timing was enough for him. 

The faint sound of one blade scraping across another caused the mortal to become highly alert. He did not panic, though his fear was very detectable by the one watching him. 

"It's you..." he finally said as the demon came into view. 

The young man, Albert Silverberg, took a moment to observe his former ally who was slowly approaching, this creature that existed in the form of an ordinary man. But he was far from ordinary, as he had always been. 

Something was different about him this time, however. Yuber's skin bore dirt and scratches, and he was hardly clothed. His long blonde hair hung loosely down his back, and his weapons were looking particularly dulled. It was as though someone had dropped the demon hundreds of miles away from civilization, and he was only finding his way back now... 

But that was ridiculous. Yuber was a demon with great skill. He would hardly be the one to wander as a lost lamb or go to some unforeseen length to sustain his own life. He could have gone back to his home world, or even allied with another bitter soul thirsty for chaos. So why was he here? 

As if in response to the question, Yuber spoke. "I've been looking for you..." 

"What do you want with me?" demanded Albert. 

"I want...everything you promised me..." 

"You are not satisfied with all the blood you have spilt?" 

Yuber came to a stop. "Not if it means I can't...have yours as well." 

Albert grew silent for a moment. "So you are here to kill me?" 

"That...would be wasted on you..." The blades fell from the demon's grip and clattered on the ground. 

Before Albert had time to react, Yuber was charging forward at an inhuman speed. Albert could only back away in reflex until he found himself up against the wall. Yuber followed a split second later, his arms flying out on either side of the young man, palms landing flat against the building. Albert tried to duck out of the trap, but the demon synchronized his moves with the mortal's. 

Albert could only stand there, expressionless, as Yuber drew closer, teeth bared. He could feel the hot breath on his face, an animal-like growl emanating from the demon. Yuber then forced his mouth on the young strategist's, the physical gesture one of neither warmth nor malice. 

The demon kissed the young man even harder, as though in desperate need of something. He sucked hungrily at his victim's mouth, an animal feasting on its helpless prey. 

Albert let out a muffled gasp of both surprise and pain as he felt something piercing deep into his flesh. A thick, salty liquid then began to flood the interior of his mouth, and the force of whatever had caused this finally withdrew. 

Yuber's mysterious eyes burned into Albert's, and he set his sights on the viscous crimson now spilling down the lad's chin. He lowered his face, his mouth becoming a receptacle for human blood. This he had longed for... 

Yuber allowed the liquid to coat the inside of his mouth, savoring its precious taste. He brought his hands up, grabbing a hold of the young man's face. The starved infant to its mother's milk, the demon continued gorging on blood. Eventually he moved into another kiss, pushing his lips against Albert's, brutal and growling and needy as he again forced the strategist's mouth open. 

The demon's tongue searched the inside of Albert's mouth, as if to seek out any remaining trace of blood. When there was none left to be found, he abruptly ended the kiss and released Albert. He stood there for a moment with crimson-stained lips, his expression more relaxed, albeit somewhat insane still. Staring not at the young man, but rather through him, he backed away slowly and then turned. 

Albert watched the blonde run off into the night, both his figure and footsteps vanishing from human senses. His wound throbbed in delayed protest, and he gently pressed his fingertips to his bottom lip. 

There was no need to stay in that alley, but then, there was no need to escape it either. He was not in danger. The demon had gotten what he came there for. 

The contract had been fulfilled. 

  
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_Author's note: Well, looks like I've got some 'splaining to do._

_I didn't put a yaoi warning (so...yeah, you're free to complain about that, heh) because part of me didn't want people to expect it, and the other part still isn't sure if it is yaoi. It can be seen as sexual, but at the same time, it isn't. And it isn't romantic by any means._

_I had qualms about posting this since there's been a lot of Yuber/Albert stuff lately...well, actually, a lot of Yuber stuff period. Not that I don't think my story doesn't have a place with the rest of them. I just tend to worry about my own lack of originality, despite my efforts to be original. But I realize the more popular a subject it is, the harder it is to make something entirely original. Well, it helped me to stop whining about it, anyway. ;P_

_I'm not sure what made me write this. Maybe it was too much Inuyasha, or that incredible pic of Windy and Yuber I saw somewhere, or all the Yuber/Albert stuff I'd read lately, or even that one drabble I wrote on Luc's group...I don't know. Maybe it's all of that. And if such a story can be labeled yaoi, then this is my first. Well, my first serious one, anyway._

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed._


End file.
